Rail-clamp for traveling-bridges.



R. E. BROWN & E. c. GAINES.

RAIL CLAMP FOR TRAVELING BRIDGES.

APPLICATION FILED IAY 6. I912.

PatentedSept. 14, 1915.

4 SHEETSSHEET 1.

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RAIL CLAMP FOR TRAVELING BRIDGES. APPLICATION FILED MAY 6. 1912.

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B. E. BROWN & E. C. GAINES.

RAIL CLAMP FOR TRAVELING BRIDGES.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 6, 19|2.

1,153,672. I Patented Sept. 14, 1915.

4 SHEETSSHEET 3.

FIG. 4

v /e {4! fig FIG.5 /5 ,92/22 62/1 a INVENTOR- W AQ W R. E. BROWN & E. C.GAINES.

RAIL CLAMP FOR TRAVELING BRIDGES.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 6, I912.

Patentedsept. 14, 1915.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

(B INVENTOEWMD M 83w; Q L

fj lag WITNESSES. ii fliIieu/ RAYMOND E. BROWN AND EDWARD ASSIGNORS TOHEYL & PATTERSON PORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

C. GAINES, 01E PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, INC., OF PITTSBURGH,PENNSYLVANIA, A COR- RAIL-CLAMP FOR TRAVELING-BRIDGES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 14, 1915.

Application filed May 6, 1912. Serial No. 696,517.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that we, RAYMOND E. BROWN andEDWARD C. GArNEs, citizens of the United States, and residents ofPittsburgh, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, haveinvented a new and useful Improvement in Rail- Clamps forTraveling-Bridges clare the following to be a full, clear, and exactdescription thereof.

ur invention relates to a rail-clamp device for traveling bridges.

The object of our invention is to provide a simple and eflicient meansfor holding traveling bridges securely in position when they are broughtto a state of rest, and means for quickly disengaging the clamps fromthe rails so as to release the bridge where it is desired to move it toanother position.

To these ends our invention comprises, generally stated, a travelingbridge having clamps in such position with reference to the rails so asto take hold thereof, an electric motor for operating said clamps totake hold of therail, a weight lifted by the operation of-said motor andconnections operated by the movement of said weight forcutting in aresistance into the circuit of the motor so as to hold the weight in apredetermined elevated position, said weight descending with sufficientforce to bring the clamps securelv into clamping position with therails, and means for releasing the weight, the downward movement of saidweight be ing controlled by the resistance set up by the armature of themotor traveling in the In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a viewof a traveling bridge to which our invention is applied; Fig. 2 is anenlarged view of the lower portion of one of the legs of the bridgeshowing our invention applied thereto; Fig. 3 is a still larger view ofa portion of the leg shown in Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a plan view of theclamps and the 02p erating mechanism; Fig. 5 is a section on the line 55 Fig. 5; Fig. 6 is a diagrammatic view of the switches and the circuitleading to the motor; and Figs. 7, 8 and 9 show a modified form of ourinvention.

' In the drawings the numeral 2 designates a suitable traveling bridgeprovided with legs 3 carried on the trucks 4 which move along the tracks5. The bridge is provided and we do hereby dewith the cab 6 from whichthe operator controls the movement of the bridge, and the bridge may befurther supplied with a clamshell bucket or other device for liftingmaterial from one point and discharging it at another point. It has notbeen deemed necessary, however, to illustrate such clam-shell bucket, asit is not involved in our invention.

In Fig. 2 we have illustrated an enlarged view of the lower end of oneof the legs of the bridge which consists of angle-bars and other shapess0 connected as to give the proper strength and rigidity. A motor 7 iscarried by the leg, and the motor-shaft has the pinion 8 which mesheswith the large gear-wheel 9 on the shaft 10. This shaft 10 is mounted insuitable bearings 11. The shaft 10 is provided with the threadedportions 12 at the opposite ends thereof, and said threaded portions areengaged by the threaded members 13. The nuts 13 as indicated in Fig. 4have the lugs 14 to which are pivoted the bell-cranks 15. The bellcranks15 are pivoted at 16 to the frame and their opposite ends are pivoted asat 17 to the clevises 18. The clamping levers 19 are held at their upperends between the clevises 18 by means of the pins 19' passing throughsaid clevises and said levers. The inside levers 20 are connected to thelevers 19 by the links 21 and the upper ends of the levers 20 aresecured by pins 21 in the clevis-member 22. The clevis-member 22 has theopening 24 through which the shaft 10 passes. The lower ends of thelevers 19 and 20 have hardened steel inserts 25 where they engage theheads of the rails.

On the shaft 10 and therewith is the drum 26 cable 27 winds. around thesheave 29. The cable 27 then passes around the sheave 30 on the weight31.- The weight 31 moves up and down on the guide rods 32.

In the path of the movement of the weight 31 is the idle-roller 33 onthe arm 34; Pivoted to the arm 34 is the rod 35 which is connected tothe switch arm 36 pivoted at 37 to the frame 38. A spring'39 isconnected to the arm 34 and to the frame 38 to hold said arm normally inthe position shown in Fig. 3. The arm 36 is adapted to engage thecontact 40 to which the wire adapted to rotate around which the Thiscable 27 passes up 28 and around the sheave- 41 leading to the traversinmotor 42 of the bridge through switch 0, that is, the motor which givesthe power for moving the bridge along the rails. At the same time, theengagement of the weight with the roller 33 operates the crank-arm 43and through the link 14, the switch-arm 47 is operated by which the Wire48 connects to the motor 7. The buffer-springs 49 are carried by theguide-rods32, and said buffersprings are interposed between the weightand the collars 50. In this way when the weight is raised thebuffer-springs act to take the jar when the collars 50 come in contactwith the frame.

When our invention is in use, and it is desired to release the clampsfrom the rails so as to permit the bridge to be moved, the parts will bein the position indicated in Fig. 3. The operator through a suitabletreadle or lever in the cab 6 closes a suitable switch C (shown in Fig.6) to the motor 7 and the shaft 10 is rotated. The rotation of the shaft10 with its threaded portions 13 in engagement with the nuts 14 causessaid nuts to move and operates the bell-crank 15, moving them in thedirection so as to move the levers 19 to the positions indicated indotted lines Fig. 5, thereby releasing the bridge from the rails. At thesame time the rotation of the shaft 10 through the cable 27 lifts theweight 31. As the weight 31 ascends, its bevel portion 31 comes incontact with the roller 33 and through the mechanism described opens theswitch K and closes the switch K. The closing of the switch K permitsthe operationof the traversing motor 12 by means of the controller 0 andthe opening of the switch K causes the solenoid switch A to open bywhich means the resistance R is inserted into the motor circuit. Thisstops the motor 7, but passes sufiicient current through it to sustainthe weight and hold the clamps released as long as the operating treadlein the cab is held down. WVhen the operator releases the treadle theline current is cut off and the weight lowers driving the motor ondynamic brake resistance R at a constant speed until the jaws 19 and 20again grip the rails. This all appears clear from the diagram shown inFig. 6. This lowering of the .weight reverses the movement of the shaft10 and the threaded portions 13 acting through the nuts 14 operate thebell-cranks 15, so as to move the clamping jaws in the positionindicated in full lines Fig. 5. It is apparent that the outer clampinglevers 19 will first take hold of the rail and they will act through theconnecting links 21 to draw the inner clamping levers 20 into engagementso as to securely clamp the bridge to the rails. In this way I providefor a clamping device which is released by the motor and when the weightdescends, it is autoand controller matically clamped so as to secure theclamps in their clamping position.

In Figs. 7, 8 and 9 we have shown a modified form of our invention inwhich the device is a hand operated one. The handwheel 60 is mounted onthe screw shaft 61. A ratchet-wheel 62 is carried by the shaft 61. Thenuts 63 on the screw-shaft 61 engage the upper ends of the clampinglevers 61 which have the jaws 65 to engage the rail 66. The screw-shaft61 also carries the drum 67 to receive the cable 68 which passes underthe sheave 69 up over the sheave 70 and down around the drum 71 on theweight 72 up over sheave 70 and back again to drum 71 to which saidcable is secured. A pawl 73 engages the ratchet-wheel 62 said pawl beingcarried by the shaft 74 mounted in the frame. A lever 75 pivoted at 76has the link 77 at one end which is connected to the lever 78. Thislever 78 is secured to the rock-shaft 74. The opposite end of the lever75 is connected to the core-piece 79 of the solenoid 7 9'. When it isdesired to release the clamps, the wheel 60 is turned in the directionof arrow and the weight 72 is elevated. The pawl 73 holds it in itselevated position. When the solenoid is charged the lever 75 is movedand through the'link 77 and lever 78 the pawl 73 is freed from theratchet-wheel 62 and the weight is free to descend and clamp the shoesby the rotation of the screw shaft 61.

What we claim is:

1. In a rail clamping device for traveling bridges, the combination witha frame, of an electric motor, a shaft driven thereby,

weight-applied clamping devices, connec-,

tions between said shaft and clamping devices, and means for operatingsaid clamping devices by making and breaking the circuit to said motor.

2. In a rail clamping device for traveling bridges, the combination withthe frame, of an electric motor, a shaft driven thereby, clampingdevices, a weight connected to said shaft, and means for breaking thecircuit to said motor whereby said weight is lowered to apply saidclamping devices, and means for raising said weight by making thecircuit to said motor whereby said clamping devices are released.

3. In a rail-clamp device for traveling bridges, the combination withthe frame, of an electric-motor, a shaft driven thereby, clampingdevices, means for operating said clamping devices by the rotation ofsaid shaft, a weight elevated by the rotation of said shaft in releasingsaid clamps, and means operated by the movement of said weight andinserting resistance into the motor circuit, whereby said weight is heldin its elevated position.

4. In a rail-clamp device for traveling bridges, the combination withthe frame, of

clamping devices by the rotation of said shaft, 2. Weight-elevated bythe rotation of said shaft,'means operated by the movement of saidweight adapted to insert a resistance into the motor circuit, wherebysaid -weight is sustained, means for cutting off the current to motor toallow the weight to fall, means for short circuiting the motor throughresistance, and setting the clamps tightly against the rail.

5. In a rail-clamp device for traveling bridges, the combination withthe frame, of a motor, a screw-shaft driven thereby, a threaded memberengaged by said shaft, a bell-crank connected to said threaded member,clamping-levers, and connections between said bell-crank and saidclampinglevers.

6. In a rail-clamp device for traveling bridges, the combination withthe frame, of a motor, a screw-shaft driven thereby, a threaded memberengaged by said shaft, a bell-crank connected to said threaded member, aclamping-lever connected to said bellcrank, a second clamping-lever, and'a-link connecting said clamping-levers.

In testimony whereof, We the said RAY- MOND E. BROWN and EDWARD C.GAINES' have hereunto set our hands.

RAYMOND E. BROWN. EDWARD C. GAINES. Witnesses:

ROBERT C. ToT'rEN, JOHN F. WILL.

